How to Use a Medicus Golf Club

The Medicus golf club, with its unmistakable dual-hinge design, is one of the most effective swing trainers ever created because it gives you honest, instant feedback. If your swing deviates from a solid, on-plane path, the club simply breaks at the hinge, telling you PRECISELY where the fault occurred. This guide will walk you through exactly how to use this tool, interpreting its feedback and grooving a smoother, more consistent golf swing.

What is a Medicus Golf Club and Why Does it Work?

Imagine your golf swing as a smooth, circular path around your body. The golf club head should travel along this path consistently on both the backswing and the downswing. The Medicus club is engineered to demand this consistency. Its signature hinge, typically located just below the grip, stays rigid as long as your hands, arms, and body move in sync and the club stays on a sound swing plane with good tempo. The moment you introduce a fault - a jerky takeaway, a snatch from the top, or a swing plane that's too flat or too steep - the centrifugal force required to keep the club straight is lost, and the hinge breaks.

This isn't about guesswork. While an instructor might tell you that you're casting the club, the Medicus shows you. It provides a kinesthetic feeling of the error. It doesn't fix your swing for you, it perfectly diagnoses the problem areas so you know exactly what to work on. Its purpose is to teach you how to maintain control, sequencing, and rhythm from the start of your swing to the finish.

Getting Started: Your First Swings

Your initial experience with the Medicus can be frustrating if you jump in too fast. Nearly every golfer who picks it up for the first time breaks the hinge immediately. This is normal! The key is to start slow and small, building up from tiny movements to a full swing. Your goal is not to hit a ball, but to learn how to swing the club without it breaking.

1. Setup and Chip Shots

First, take your normal setup and grip. Start with what feels like a simple putting stroke or a small chip. From a narrow stance, just swing the club back a foot or two and then through a foot or two. Focus on using your shoulders and chest to pivot back and through, keeping your arms passive and connected to your torso. If the club breaks even on this tiny motion, it's a sign that your hands and wrists are too active. Focus on feeling the whole unit - the triangle formed by your arms and shoulders - move together.

2. The Half Swing (L-to-L)

Once you can make short chip-shot swings without the club breaking, progress to a half swing. Swing the club back until your lead arm (left arm for a right-handed golfer) is parallel to the ground. Your wrists should set naturally, creating an "L" shape between your lead arm and the club shaft.

• From here, the goal is to swing through to a mirror-image finish on the other side, where your trail arm (the right arm) and club shaft form another "L".
• This is a tempo drill. The motion should be smooth and continuous. Think "tick-tock." A common fault here is a rushed transition, where the hands and arms aggressively start the downswing. Let your lower body start the sequence, allowing the club to naturally follow.

Perform this L-to-L drill repeatedly. Count a rhythm in your head: "One" for the backswing, and "Two" for the downswing. This helps engrain a smooth tempo.

3. The Full Swing (No Ball!)

After mastering the half swing, you can try a full rehearsal swing. The feeling should be the same as the half swing, just extended further. Allow your body to rotate fully on the backswing and unwind fully on the through-swing. Do not try for speed! Speed is a byproduct of a well-sequenced, efficient swing, not the goal itself. The goal is to make a full backswing and a full, balanced finish without the hinge breaking at any point. Most people find the club breaks during the transition from backswing to downswing. Be conscious of a smooth, unhurried change of direction.

Interpreting the Feedback: Why is Your Medicus 'Breaking'?

The real value of the Medicus is as a diagnostic tool. When it breaks, don't get angry, get curious. It's giving you valuable information. Here's a breakdown of the common points where the hinge gives way and what it means.

If it breaks on your Takeaway...

If the club breaks within the first few feet of the backswing, you're looking at a fundamental connection issue.

• Snatched Inside: Your hands and arms pulled the club too far inside your body's line right from the start. Your arms are working independently of your torso. The fix is to feel a "one-piece takeaway," where your shoulders, arms, and club move away together as a single unit.
• Rolled Wrists: You opened the clubface immediately by rolling your forearms. This disconnects the motion and will cause the hinge to break. Keep the clubface looking at the ball for the first few feet of the swing.
• Too Fast: A sudden, jerky start will break the hinge every time. The takeaway needs to be smooth and wide.

If it breaks at the Top of your Swing...

Breaking at the very top is usually about control and over-swinging.

• Swinging Past Parallel: You've swung your arms so far back that the club drops past the horizontal line, loses all tension, and breaks. This is a very common power-leaking move. The Medicus teaches you the feel of a shorter, more controlled, and more powerful backswing position.
• Losing Wrist Set: At the top, you should have a solid wrist hinge. If your wrists collapse or 'uncock' at the top, the club will break. Your backswing should feel like you are loading up power, not becoming loose and disconnected.

If it breaks during the Transition... THE BIG ONE

This is it. The transition from backswing to downswing is where most golf swings (and Medicus clubs) fall apart. If it's breaking here, it is almost certainly a sequencing issue called "casting" or an "over-the-top" move.

• The Cause: Casting happens when your hands and arms initiate the downswing. You're throwing the club from the top, trying to hit the ball with your upper body. This destroys your lag, wastes all the power you stored in your backswing, and leads to slices and weak contact.
• The Feel of the Fix: The downswing should start from the ground up. From the top of your swing, your first move should be a slight shift of your weight and pressure to your front foot, followed by the unwinding of your hips. This "lagging" feeling allows the club to simply drop down onto the correct plane, with the hands and arms being the last things to fire. You need to develop the patience to let your lower body lead the dance. Practicing this transition repeatedly with the Medicus - from the top, initiate with the lower body - is perhaps its single greatest benefit.

If it breaks after Impact...

If you get through the ball cleanly but the hinge breaks in the follow-through, you might be quitting on the swing.

• "Chicken Wing": This happens when your lead elbow bends and pulls in toward your body post-impact, instead of rotating and extending. The club path gets disrupted, and the hinge breaks.
• The Fix: Feel like you are shaking hands with the target after impact. Your arms should fully extend out towards the target after you hit the imaginary ball, and your body should continue rotating all the way through to a full, balanced finish.

Drills to Groove the Right Feeing

To transfer the feeling of a "whole" Medicus swing to your real swing, dedicate part of your practice sessions to specific drills.

The Alternating Swings Drill

This is the most direct way to get results.

1. Take 5 smooth, full swings with the Medicus, making sure the hinge doesn't break. Concentrate on the a feel of rhythm and proper sequencing.
2. Immediately put the Medicus down and pick up your regular 7-iron.
3. Hit a golf ball with about 70% effort, trying to perfectly replicate the tempo and feel of the successful Medicus swing.
4. Repeat this cycle. After a while, the feeling of the correct motion will start to transfer, and your regular swing will become more fluid and on-plane.

The Pause-at-the-Top Drill

This is a fantastic drill for curing a quick transition. Swing the Medicus to the top of your backswing and pause for a full two seconds. Check your position. Feel the stability. Then, consciously begin the downswing by shifting your weight and turning your lower body. This separation between the backswing and downswing forces you to eliminate the jerky casting motion and allows you to feel the correct downswing sequence.

Final Thoughts

The Medicus is a remarkable training aid designed to build a solid foundation of tempo, sequencing, and swing plane. Its value comes not from just swinging it, but from using its feedback to understand the specific faults in your motion and then practicing the correct feelings to overcome them. Be patient, start slow, and the Medicus will help you build a more reliable and powerful swing.

Once you’ve used a tool like the Medicus to improve your swing mechanics, the next step is applying that better motion with smarter on-course strategy. A solid swing is one piece of the puzzle, but shot selection, course management, and handling tricky lies are just as critical. That’s where new tools like our app, Caddie AI, come into play. It acts as your personal coach and strategist, giving you instant advice on club choice or snapping a photo of a bad lie to ask for the best way to play it. Marrying a more consistent swing with smart, confident decision-making is how you truly lower your scores.